In the comments to several diaries about Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s appearances on Fox News, there are always some people who state that Democrats should deprive the network of legitimacy by refusing to appear. I understand the impulse to do this, but there are several reasons that it is a bad idea, and rather than repost these ideas multiple times, I'm putting them here.
First, keep in mind that not everyone who is watching and hearing Fox News wants to be tuned to that channel. Fox is pervasive on TVs in public places where a captive audience is guaranteed, and I see it in airports, malls, and in the waiting room at my doctor’s office. Though the FDA has denied a story that all TV’s in their offices be tuned to Fox News, such a thing will probably happen even without orders wherever Trumpists are in control. Having smart, articulate Democrats forcefully advancing our ideas on Fox reaches people who are trapped in those environments. It may be a brief breeze of fresh air in a stultifying swamp of lies, and it will be memorable for those who experience it.
Second, if we do not send our representatives (and Mayor Pete is definitely one of our best), Fox will find someone to state a straw man version of Democratic positions as incompetently as possible so that their attack dogs have something to chew on. Fox’s format depends on having someone to make an argument on both sides, and we want to make sure that the person on camera can state our positions cogently and defend them while thinking on their feet. Yes, the broadcast may be edited unfavorably, yes, they will try every trick of ambush journalism in the book, but we have to provide not merely a defense of our positions, but an attack on theirs.
Like it or not, refusal of Democrats to participate in Fox News shows will not be effective. It can’t deprive them of legitimacy because they take pains to look like a real news organization and give the veneer of allowing opposition views. Their more ignorant viewers won’t know the difference between the informed people we would have provided and the nincompoops and fringe types that they would portray as our spokespeople. We have to go into their territory and make our points as boldly as possible, knowing that it may be the only time some people hear them. It may peel a few people away from their party line, and we all know how a few votes can count in the grand scheme of things.